A so-called transverse electric field system color liquid crystal display device is constructed such that transparent substrates are disposed in an opposed manner with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, electrodes for display and reference electrodes are provided on liquid-crystal-side surfaces of regions of one or both of the transparent substrates which correspond to respective unit pixels, and electric fields are generated between these display electrodes and the reference electrodes parallel to the surfaces of the transparent substrates so as to modulate light which is transmitted through the liquid crystal layer. Such a color liquid crystal display device has been known to have a so-called excellent broad visual field angle which allows a person to recognize a clear image even from a position which is at a large angle relative to the display screen.
Liquid crystal display devices having such a construction are described in detail in, for example, Japanese publication of the translation of international patent application Hei 5-505247, Japanese patent publication Sho 63-21907 and Japanese laid-open patent publication Hei 6-160878.
However, a liquid crystal display element having the above-mentioned construction still has a problem in that an unnecessary electric field generated by the drain lines causes fluctuation of an electric field between the display electrodes and the reference electrodes, and so a bad image quality in which stripes are produced in a direction along the drain lines, or a so-called longitudinal smear (crosstalk), occurs. Means for solving this problem has been described in Japanese laid-open patent publication Hei 6-202127. The liquid crystal display element having the disclosed construction, however, is provided with shield electrodes and an electric potential is supplied from the outside; and, hence, it still has problems in that the charging or discharging of an electric current to a capacitance between the shield electrodes and the signal electrodes is large, the load on the drive circuit is large thus making the power consumption large and the drive circuit large, and a connecting means for applying the electric potential to the shield electrodes becomes necessary, thus increasing the steps and giving rise to connection failures.
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display device which can suppress the occurrence of longitudinal smear and enhance the productivity, while also enabling a low power consumption.